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Now, 59, Speelman has been sentenced to spend the next 25 to 50 years in prison by Judge Thomas Campbell after pleading guilty to murder in the third degree, burglary, and a no contest to rape, according to Adams County District Attorney Brian Sinnett.
Speelman confessed raping and then smothering Edna Laughman with a pillow at her home in the 1500 block of Carlisle Pike, Oxford Township on Aug. 13, 1987, only after DNA matched him to the crime 33 years later, the DA previously explained.
Prior to his 2021 confession, her nephew Barry Laughman falsely confessed to killing her— spending 16 years behind bars, but DNA evidence in 2003 exonerated them.
A new test was conducted on the attacker's DNA in 2018, pointing to Speelman. He had lived with Edna for 10 years prior to her death and is related to her through his parents, according to State Police. Speelman agreed to provide a sample in May of 2021 and it was a match, as Daily Voice previously reported.
"The investigation revealed that he indicated he went into her home to steal from Edna, that she was home when he was there, that he attacked her, that he overcame her and that he suffocated her and killed her, and then sexually assaulted her," Adams County District Attorney Brian Sinnett said.
Speelman confessed to the Pennsylvania State Police following his arrest on July 27, 2021, as Daily Voice previously reported.
Speelman will not be eligible for parole until 2046, and once he is released, he will not be added to any sex offender registries, as his crimes predate the law requiring it, according to Sinnett.
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